Trip to the Desert

We just came back from two days of seeing and doing a lot of cool things in the desert.
(I usually try not to have pictures with people in them on here but...it was too hard to find good ones this time.)

For the first stop we pretty much just pulled off the highway.  Looking out at it, it looked like nothing really but underneath there was a big network of tunnels and caves, Tel Goded. We all crawled down through this little doorway opening that went down under the ground into a tunnel that was even smaller and more narrow. The whole way was stretches of skinny tunnels connecting bigger open rooms. I was definitely a little nervous at first. Once you were in there, there was not a lot of room and the only way out was to go forward and hope that no one ahead of you got stuck.  There were a couple of time where you looked at the opening you had to go through and thought, "there is no way I'm fitting through there!"

Next we went to the desert for a hike at Sanafir Katan.  In Israel every hike I have taken is straight up hill, look at the view, then straight down. That's how this one was too.  We climbed pretty much straight up and then stopped at the top to enjoy the view and talk about the geological features at this site and then made our way down.

View from the top of the hike

From there we went to Holot Tzivonim, an area where the sand is all different colors. By different colors I don't mean just different shades of tan. There was  red, orange, yellow, white, deep purple...

From the top of the hike, you can kind of see the different color sands.

Then we drove to the Bedouin camp to stay for the night. Learned about them, had some dinner, made a fire.  When I was at the Bedouin camp on Birthright, there were so many stars out it was amazing so i was really excited to see them again this time.  After sitting at the fire for a bit I went out, away from the light, to try to see the stars. Unfortunately it was kind of cloudy and I wasn't able to see nearly as many as last time, but it was nice to sit out in the open at night and just enjoy the quiet. 

Our tent at the Bedouin camp

The next morning we had some breakfast and went for a camel ride before we left the Bedouins.  From there we went to Ein Gedi, an oasis in the Judean Desert right by the Dead Sea. We went on a hike, again straight up and then straight down.  It was really amazing to see the difference between the desert with no plants and very few animals to the waterfalls and rivers and green in Ein Gedi. We stopped during the hike to go in a small pool at the bottom of a waterfall along one of the streams, Nahal David. 

Ein Gedi

Final stop was the Dead Sea. This time, as opposed to when i went with Birthright, you were able to swim really far out from the shore, which is a little tricky when you float so high and you don't want water on our face. The picture I posted here is not the best for the  Dead Sea but it's pretty cool, I think.  The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth.  If you look closely, there are four planes in the picture that are flying below sea level.

It was a great trip...I had a lot of fun. The desert is amazing...its so open and empty and quiet.  It's also nothing like anything we have at home, which always makes it seem cooler.

Happy Hanukah!